Girls’ soccer training often represents a better experience for the players than coed camps, although each has different advantages that can be taken advantage of.
Women’s soccer has grown tremendously in recent years, both in the professional area and in the training divisions of the most prestigious clubs around the world.
As a result, there are more and more academies and soccer camps for girls that offer training sessions for girls of all ages.
However, some institutions choose to offer coed camps and others offer camps exclusively for girls.
In this article we will go over the differences, advantages and disadvantages of these two training modalities.
In this way, you as a parent will have all the tools you need to decide whether to enroll your daughter in a girls-only soccer camp or a coed camp, where boys also attend.
Why choose an all-girls camp.
Training fully focused on girls’ skills.
Girls-only camps have the main advantage of being completely geared towards girls, with training sessions based on their skills and the room for improvement they may have according to their ages.
These camps are run by certified coaches and former players who specialize in exploiting all of the girls’ abilities, with drills focused on improving and consolidating the players’ technique.
In addition, coaches are able to divide the group not only by age, but also by the abilities of the players.
In general terms, they are more comfortable for the coaches and the students, since all the efforts of the sessions can be focused on themselves and all the aspects they need to work on depending on their level.
In addition, high performance camps for girls also fall into this category.
The great majority of high performance camps are only for girls and not mixed, since in these camps the intensity of the training sessions is increased and they are even more focused on improving the soccer part of the players.
Therefore, if the main goal of the parents and the player is to improve her skills, the most convenient alternative is the high performance camps for girls only.
- Training sessions that are enjoyable and adapted to the conditions of the players.
- More personalized attention from the coaches, with individual analysis of each player’s strengths, weaknesses and things to improve.
- Exercises focused on improving the players’ technique.
- Teaching tactics from a general perspective, to understand the roles of each of the positions on the field.
- High and healthy competition among the assistants.
- Exercises on problem solving under pressure situations on the field.
- The high performance camps, in their great majority, are only for girls and are the most recommended for high level and elite players.
Comfortable, convenient and safe living.
Another important factor of the camps are the accommodation conditions and the facilities where the girls will spend the nights after training.
In all-girls camps the coexistence is usually quite comfortable and quiet; with all participants having the right to enjoy common areas, with no restrictions other than the schedules proposed by the institution.
The conditions depend on each camp. However, generally the girls stay in double, triple or quadruple rooms.
These rooms have private bathrooms, cleaning service, laundry service and Wi-Fi internet connection.
In addition, everything takes place in the middle of a multicultural environment, with girls of different nationalities and willing to live a unique summer experience.
Excursions, recreational activities and language classes.
Girls-only summer camps also offer recreational activities, excursions and trips to historical sites in cities near the facilities where the girls are staying.
This is another major attraction of these events. The girls not only focus on improving their performance on the field, but they also have their moments of leisure and recreation to distract themselves from the stress of their daily routine.
Activities range from excursions, hiking trails, outdoor music concerts, a visit to a major college or university, or a tour of a Premier League club’s facilities.
These activities can also be complemented with language classes. Most camps offer English classes for girls.
A camp like this is a great opportunity to learn and strengthen your knowledge of a new language.
Sense of community and emotional management.
A healthy competitive spirit is encouraged, always taking care of the physical and mental integrity of the players, with multifactorial training sessions that include psychological talks and information on nutrition.
Similarly, we also work on the management of success and failure, so that the players know how to manage day-to-day life in high performance sports and do not lose their way in moments of pressure.
Taking care of the physical aspect alone is not enough to reach the sporting elite. This is a thought that is transmitted to the girls organically in training so that they understand the importance of mental health and emotional stability.
At the end of the day, the girls not only leave training with more and better soccer skills, but they also continue their education in the human aspect.
Characteristics of co-ed camps.
More recreational and holistic experiences.
Coed camps, while they can also offer a good competitive pace, generally have a more recreational and entertainment focus.
These camps combine the sports experience with other types of activities, group dynamics and excursions that make for an unforgettable experience for summer vacations or other festive seasons.
Therefore, these camps are a good excuse for your daughter to enjoy, live a different experience, interact with other people and, in the meantime, also enjoy playing her favorite sport.
In addition, these camps are also recommended for girls who are going to live their first experience away from home and do not want to subject them to a very high or demanding training pace.
Supervised coexistence and restricted accommodation.
The coed camps also tend to be more active and varied than all-girls camps.
Boys and girls enjoy the common areas of the camp facilities, such as video game rooms, gyms, swimming pools, and other areas that each camp may offer.
Each activity is supervised by camp staff, who ensure the safety of all participants.
In addition, the children have internet connection and free use of their phones during their free time to communicate with their parents.
Now, as for accommodation and dormitories, the children are separated by gender and are distributed in double, triple or quadruple rooms.
Each room has its own private bathroom, laundry and cleaning service, although this varies from camp to camp.
Security personnel are on duty to look out for any unforeseen events in the evenings.
The camps have direct communication with parents in case of any accident, emergency or serious illness of a boy or girl.
Multicultural experience to share.
Co-ed camps also tend to have a wider audience, so there is more opportunity to meet people of other nationalities and cultures.
This makes the atmosphere of each training and activity very pluralistic, adding a different characteristic and color to the camp, in the recreational sense.
In the same way, this helps the boys and girls to develop their communication skills in other languages. For this reason, it is also recommended to enroll female soccer players in the language courses offered by the camps.
At the end of the day, mixed camps end up being a more complete experience that, beyond the strictly sporting, offers very positive experiences for boys and girls.
Best soccer camps for girls only.
#1. Best High Performance Camp in Spain: F.C Barcelona.
F.C Barcelona is one of the references in formative soccer around the world, with La Masia being a quarry that has generated jewels such as Lionel Messi, Xavi Hernández, Aitana Bonmatí or Alexia Putellas.
The F.C Barcelona camps have UEFA-certified coaches and conduct high-intensity training sessions aimed at improving the players’ performance on the pitch.
These trainings follow the ideology of possession play of the Blaugrana club, training the girls technically and tactically to apply this particular offensive game that characterizes the Catalan club at all levels.
On the other hand, the club has partnered with the Agora University to offer its university residence as accommodation facilities for the girls, with rooms that are only 15 minutes away from the training fields.
Undoubtedly, this is a high-level experience highly recommended for top-level players who want to further elevate their potential.
- Suitable for players and goalkeepers from 14 to 21 years old.
- UEFA certified coaches.
- Follows the idea of the club’s game, with long possessions and high pressure in defense.
- Language classes can be added.
- Up to 20 hours of training per week.
- Technical, tactical and teamwork review at all levels.
#2. Best Football Camp for Girls in England: Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C. has also set up a very good academy that generates gems every year for both the first team and other clubs in the European leagues, in both the men’s and women’s leagues.
Currently, they are offering exclusive programs for girls with a high level of intensity; only for players from 12 to 17 years old.
These camps include excursions to areas surrounding the event facilities, located at the Repton School. It is a very complete experience that combines a high level of sportsmanship with leisure and recreational activities.
- High intensity training sessions for the players.
- Language classes available.
- Certified coaches and former players at training sessions.
- First class facilities.
- Excursions to tourist sites and places of interest.
- Approximately 20 hours of training per week.
#3. Best High Performance Camp in the USA: F.C Barcelona – Arizona.
This exclusive soccer camp for girls is the only F.C Barcelona camp that takes place outside the Catalan entity.
In the training sessions , basic, medium and advanced concepts are trained to develop the players’ technique.
On the tactical side, it covers everything from the fundamentals for each formation to set pieces and situational movements on the field.
It also has certified coaches and a direct relationship with the Blaugrana club, so that outstanding players could get on the radar of the club’s lower divisions.
- For players from 10 to 17 years old.
- Different skill levels.
- Up to 20 hours of training per week.
- Former players and certified coaches.
- Language classes.
- Top level facilities.
- Governed by La Masia’s high teaching standards.
And speaking of accommodation, the girls are housed in the Grande Sports World, a gigantic high-performance sports complex with multiple natural soccer fields.
The girls will be able to enjoy the gym, therapeutic pools, sports pavilion and other common areas such as the video game area or the ping-pong room.
#4. Camp with the best facilities in the UK: Chelsea Foundation.
Finally, we end these recommendations with the Chelsea Foundation Camp, organized by the prestigious London club.
This soccer camp for girls in the UK offers up to 29 hours of training per week, with a good level of intensity that polishes the players’ technical repertoire.
As for the facilities, which is its highlight, they are part of a huge sports complex with 12 soccer fields and a student residence that serves to house the girls.
The Surrey Charterhouse School is a real visual spectacle, which will make the girls feel like they are in a professional club from the moment they arrive at the camp.
- Facilities of the highest standard.
- Training for the girls’ technical repertoire.
- Girls only program.
- Up to 29 hours of training per week.
- Language classes.
- High competition and sportsmanship.
- FA certified coaches.
Best Coed Soccer Camp
Best Private Camp in the USA: IMG Academy.
If you are looking for a camp in a more central or crowded area like Florida, IMG Academy offers a very complete and interesting program just for girls.
This private entity has a training program that fosters a high level of competitiveness among the girls, with intense exercises that improve all the aspects that the players need to reach the highest level.
Its staff is made up of former professional players from the NSWL and prestigious clubs in the United States, which is a very prominent country in women’s soccer.
Of course, this camp is coeducational and is only available for players from 9 to 18 years old.
- Coed camp.
- Develops the girls’ leadership and communication skills.
- Training based on basic soccer concepts.
- Long and short camps.
- Language classes.
- Certified coaches in the United States.
which soccer camp for girls should I choose?
This is an answer that only you can state for yourself, as you must also take into account your daughter’s likes and dislikes and the expectations she may have about this new experience for her.
All-girls camps tend to be more recommended for girls, as they are fully geared towards girls and focused primarily on sports.
However, a co-ed camp is also a plausible experience because of the great recreational potential it offers.
At the end of the day, they are an accumulation of conditions that must be put in a balance, always having as a north the welfare of your daughter and her sporting growth.